Oxford United owner in Indonesia FA partnership with Ajax

The Yellows majority shareholder, who is also Minister for Youth and Sports in the Indonesian government, recently confirmed an agreement between Dutch giants Ajax and Indonesia’s national football association.

The agreement will see the rollout of a nationwide programme that aims to develop footballer in Indonesia based on the Ajax coaching philosophy.

The Amsterdam-based club, who have four UEFA Champions League trophies to their name, will train coaches throughout Indonesia with the country’s FA investing ‘seriously’ in football development.

United owner Thohir said in a statement on Ajax’s website: “Football is the number one sport in Indonesia, but we must acknowledge that we still face challenges in our youth development system.

“This is what we want to continue learning from and adapting from the successful system in the Netherlands.

“We are therefore proud to establish this partnership with Ajax, a major club with a proven development philosophy and a special historical relationship with Indonesia.

“Through Ajax’s knowledge and experience, we can take an important step towards improving the quality of coaches and football talent in Indonesia.”

Indonesia now becomes part of the Dutch side’s international football network which includes clubs from Mexico, Austria, Italy, Spain, Greece, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Due to Oxford’s owner having such influence in Indonesia, the U’s have recently seen players from the nation join the club.

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Marselino Ferdinan and Ole Romeny, two national team stars, have represented the League One side, with the former currently out on loan in the Netherlands with Fortuna Sittard.

United have had a tricky summer with board-level changes seeing a new chairman appointed in Dusan Bogdanovic, Grant Ferguson stepping down and into a board role.

A temporary registration embargo followed after the club failed to comply with Squad Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) regulations.

Further comment on the Indonesia and Ajax partnership was given by the club’s CEO, Menno Geelen: “We want to maintain our position as one of the best talent developers in the world and share our knowledge in markets that are relevant.

“Indonesia is such a market: large, with tremendous potential and a huge passion for football.

“We have been in contact for a number of years now, and we are proud to be able to build on our relationship with Indonesian football and contribute to the further development of the sport in the country.”